Bryxx

by Tarisa Marie

  “You’re not like that,” I argue.

  “Just because I struggle every single second to resist those urges, doesn’t mean that I don’t give in now and again and mess up or have terrible thoughts. Just now when I taunted you about your ugly underwear, I fed off your hurt and annoyance. See? I just did it again by telling you that.”

  “You’re just teasing me. It’s not like it’s a big deal.”

  “If I continued to taunt you about your wardrobe, your choice in music, whatever, for years I could seriously knock down your self-confidence. One small comment like that can lead someone to commit suicide. Trust me. I’ve seen it.” She nibbles her lightly glossed bottom lip.

  A knock on the bedroom door interrupts us and Kade comes in, hands in his jean pockets. “Ready?”

  I nod and attempt to get up. Jane is suddenly on one side of me trying to help me up and Kade on the other. Between the three of us, I get up on my two legs.

  “Alright. I’m okay. You can let go,” I assure them and they both carefully release me. I still feel weak, but I’m confident I can make it out to the car. My first few steps are a little shakey, but it isn’t long before I’m saying my goodbyes to Jane, not knowing if or when I’ll see her again. Once outside the apartment building, we quickly say goodbye to Darrel. I wonder if he picked a bald man so he wouldn’t have the same hair problem he did with his last body.

  The drive from the apartment building to airport is silent as Kade listens and watches for any sign that we’ve been followed.

  When we park on the airport runway, getting special access, Kade hustles me towards the small private plane and we take off quickly. It’s not until we’re in the sky that he speaks. “I thought at least a couple would follow us.”

  “How many came while I was unconscious?”

  “Four. Not sure if they came for me or you, but once they smelt you, they lost their minds.” He grits his teeth, the muscles in his jaw clenching.

  As we take off, I see a BMW plow through the security gate that separates us from the street. Security members come out of nowhere, approaching the car with stealth. A blond woman with a gun begins shooting at the plane but misses and the pilot veers to the left.

  Kade growls. “That one was on our tail. We got out of here just in time.”

  I watch as the airport security land bullets in her chest, skull, and other body parts. She falls to the ground but gets up and points her gun on them, taking two innocent human men down. I gape. Their deaths are on me. I lose sight of the scene as we ascend above the clouds.

  Chapter 11

  Our plane lands on a small runway in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. The land is flat and barren. I can see for what feels like miles. Kade thanks the pilot and hands him a wad of cash before helping me off the plane. A car waits for us off to the side of the runway and we head for it quickly.

  Kade opens the passenger door for me and then hops in the driver’s side. He hammers on the gas, leaving skid marks behind us. He keeps the radio down as he whips a U-turn and one handedly fiddles with the gps. He types in longitude and latitude to my surprise and the gps chimes that we are sixty miles away. I grab onto the handle on the roof, a bit scared of his reckless driving even though I know he’d never hurt me.

  We drive the sixty miles without incident and in total silence the air seems thick with tension the entire ride. Why is he acting this way? Could he have heard Jane I’s conversation? Yes, but he was acting strange before that. Is he just being completely professional and in tune with our surroundings in order to keep me safe? I hope so.

  We drive through a small town or village as the sign states. “Welcome to Village of Green Lake”. Population is stated as 418 people. My god, we are in the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t exaggerating. We don’t stop in Green Lake. We keep driving. For a while, there are bodies of water on each side of the road and then we cross over a river and turn left onto a gravel road which we follow for at least ten minutes before we pull into a yard surrounded by evergreen trees. The property looks out of place when considering the barren land around us. Although empty, the area seems to have its own sense of beauty, the land so untouched by mankind.

  We stop in front of small, grey house, a barn off to one side. Kade gets out first and grabs our bags, before opening my door for me. I manage to get out all on my own. The silence here is deafening and reminds me of where I grew up in Montana. Birds chirp and the wind rustles the trees. In the distance, I hear cows mooing.

  “This is it,” he breathes as if relieved to finally be here. I know I am.

  The house is dainty but larger than my apartment. It has two bedrooms and the entire house is furnished. There are even groceries stocked.

  “Who did all this?” I ask while digging through the fridge.

  Kade comes up behind me to inspect the fridge. “I’m paying someone to pick up groceries and whatever else we need once a week from a nearby town.”

  I frown. “Why? I think a little social interaction would be nice once a week.”

  He grimaces. “Maybe in a couple weeks. I want to make sure the area is safe first.”

  I nod. I guess that makes sense.

  “What are we going to do with ourselves out here?” I ask.

  “We have four cows and three chickens,” he offers, a grin playing at his lips for the first time in too long.

  I can’t tell if he’s joking or not.

  He points out the kitchen window to where four cows stand in a small pasture and a little chicken coop sits.

  “Can I name them?” I ask excitedly. I love animals and he knows it.

  His grin gains strength. “They’re cows, May.”

  “They still deserve names!” I argue and race out the door to see them.

  When he doesn’t stop me, I speed up in excitement. This is the most freedom I’ve had in days or even weeks.

  “Jane.” I point to the plain brown cow. “Betty.” The black one. “Georgia.” The brown one with the white nose. “And Violet.” The white one.

  Kade nods, impressed. “You going to name the chickens too?”

  “Of course!” I duck over to the coop and find three brown chickens looking around.

  Kade opens up a large white pale and pulls out a handful of feed before dumping it into the coop. The chickens begin pecking at the ground.

  “Lucy, Dorothy, and Marie,” I decide, unable to tell them apart yet but knowing I will figure it out eventually.

  “Why are you naming our farm animals after old ladies?” Kade chuckles and drops in another handful of feed.

  I scowl at him. “Because it’s cute.”

  He snorts out a laugh. “Why don’t you get settled in and pick which room you want while I feed the cows?”

  I shrug and skip off to the house, glad to get some alone time, not that I get sick of being around Kade all the time because I don’t, but sometimes being alone is just nice, even if I know he will still be able to hear everything I’m doing.

  I pick the bedroom with the attached bathroom, seeing as Kade doesn’t use the bathroom as much as I do. The only thing he uses it for is showering and fixing his hair.

  I unload by duffle bag and have a quick shower. By the time I’m out and ready to make something to eat, Kade is already on it, frying up some hamburgers on the barbecue on the back porch.

  “You already killed one of our cows?” I tease, mocking shock.

  He chuckles deeply and turns from the BBQ to face me. His smile falters slightly.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask him. Is there something on my face? There shouldn’t be. For heaven’s sake I just showered.

  He sets the flipper down on the BBQ and takes a step closer to me. He brushes a strand of wet hair behind my ear gently. “Nothing. You’re just beautiful.”

  I know I don’t imagine the spark that manifests between us. My breath catches for reasons that I can’t explain, and I find my heart picking up pace. He comes closer yet and just as I begin to think he might kiss me
on the lips, his lips fall to my forehead. As quickly as he’s neared me, he puts a few feet of distance between us. I back through the patio door back into the house. I’m suddenly thirsty and I grab a glass from the cupboard, pouring me some tap water and then chugging it down hastily.

  A moment later Kade comes in carrying our food. It smells amazing and I’m starving. When was the last time I even ate?

  He sets the plate down on the table which has already been made and pours us each a glass of wine. “What do you want on your burger?”

  “Just ketchup and onions, please,” I answer, still partially dazed. I can’t help but imagine the kiss he pressed to my forehead, being placed on my lips instead. It makes me queasy with emotion. I realize that I wanted him to kiss me. Jane was right, I do like him like that. I’m not sure why the revelation surprises me.

  “You okay?” he asks as he puts my burger together and hands it across the table to me.

  I take it from him and sit down. “Yeah, sorry just hungry.”

  He smiles, and I swear I see the same emotion in his eyes as I’m sure I have in mine.

  We both dig in. The food is delicious. After we eat, we clean up the table and then sit back down to finish our glasses of white wine.

  “So, do you like it?” he asks hopefully.

  “The hamburger or the place?” I ask, unsure to which he is referring.

  “Both,” he decides after a moment of debate.

  I nod. “The burger was decadent,” I assure him and snicker. “The place is perfect, too. Did you tell Jane and Darrel that we made it safe?”

  He nods back. “Yup. I texted them.” He takes the final swig of his wine and then pours himself another. I finish my first glass but decide to stop there seeing as I haven’t been in the best of health lately. I take my glass to the sink and then return to wipe the table down with a cloth.

  Suddenly, Kade is gone from his seat. I’m about to panic thinking that there’s danger when I feel his presence behind me. I glance back as I wipe down the table and meet his curious eyes looking over my body. A small rumble sounds from deep in his chest and startles me a little. His hand touches my waist and he spins me around to face him, backing me up against the table slightly.

  Our bodies are so close that I can smell his light cologne. Musky and woodsy just like I’d have thought. He takes in my reaction and must take it as a green light because he presses his body closer to mine so that were touching. I can feel his breath on my face. We’ve never been so close. I clench my teeth, a reaction I can’t control.

  I’m so lost in him in that moment that the cloth falls from my hand and makes a splat sound on the linoleum. We ignore it.

  His head lowers down to mine and he pauses ever so slightly. “May I?” he whispers.

  I’m speechless. I just give a slight nod of my head.

  His soft, moist lips meet mine tenderly and his body presses into mine impossibly more, causing me to press into him in return in order to not fall over backwards onto the table.

  His breath hits my tongue and a small moan escapes me. I want more. I kiss him harder, the kiss going from gentle, to hard and needy. He doesn’t protest and instead picks me up by my thighs, wrapping my legs around his torso. He carries me easily to the wall across from the table and leans me against it for a moment and then takes off with me again as our lips dance. I am partially surprised when I find that we are in his bedroom and he’s lying me down onto the bed. This is so unlike him, then again, it’s so unlike me.

  Did he hear what I told Jane, does he feel the same about me? Was she right? Excitement takes over my rational thought. I should be thinking about how fast this is happening, not about how much I want him to get impossibly closer to me.

  He lies down over top of me and presses his hips into mine harsher. I gasp and pull him closer. Another growl escapes him before he pulls away from my lips and stares down at me, breathing heavy. I’ve never seen him so breathless. I didn’t even know it was possible. He clenches his jaw. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

  He’s sorry? “Don’t be sorry,” I breathe.

  He begins to pull away.

  “Don’t go,” I basically beg. I want him so bad, all of him right now.

  “I have to, May. I’m sorry. I’ll be outside if you need me,” he breathes and then just like that he’s gone, and I’m laying breathless in his bed.

  I awaken the next morning still in Kade’s bed. Crap. How did I fall asleep? Oh, a long day of travelling while not in very good health might do it.

  I spring up from the bed and race out to the living room where Kade is seated on the couch staring at the blank tv screen.

  “Good morning,” I greet him. “Sorry about falling asleep in your bed.”

  He swallows hard. “It’s alright, May. I didn’t sleep much anyway. I have bad news.”

  My heart drops with the hard tone in his voice. “Betty is dead.” He quickly corrects, “Betty the cow. I found her this morning.”

  Breath rushes into my lungs. “What? What happened?”

  “Probably a coyote, I suppose,” he says solemnly. I can’t tell if he’s truly sad about her demise or if he’s anticipating my reaction.

  “You didn’t hear it?” I ask in disbelief.

  He looks to me and bites his cheek. “No. I didn’t. Well, I did, but it was too late.”

  I blink back tears for the stupid cow that I only knew for one stupid day, not even. Yet I have yet to shed tears over the two men at the airport who were murdered by a vampire who was after me. I wonder if anymore people were hurt at the airport. I can’t help but think the worse.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

  “It’s not your fault,” I answer. “Can we bury her or something?” I feel like such a baby. I’ve lost family members and friends alike, but here I am throwing a fit over a cow?

  “Of course. I will start on the hole,” he decides to my surprise. I was ready for him to tell me I was nuts, and he wasn’t about to dig a hole size enough for a cow. He leaves the house in a blur and I attempt to follow close behind him, but well, that’s a fail and a half. I go out to the cow pen where Betty lies on her side in the hay, blood strewn everywhere. I gasp at the sight. It looks as though the coyote or whatever it was physically tore her body apart. Can a coyote even do that? Are there wolves around here, cougars?

  Kade comes out to the field with a shovel and goes full speed at the ground, tossing dirt behind him in a pile. I am fascinated while watching his inhuman movements. It only takes him a matter of a handful of minutes to dig a hole large enough for Betty, something that would’ve taken me hours or maybe even days and a ton of sweat.

  When he’s done, he drags Betty into the hole and then starts filling it. Violet watches and lets out a loud moo. I wonder if she knows what happened to Betty. Does she understand that Betty is gone? Can cows mourn?

  I press myself against the gate without noticing I’m doing it and out of the corner of my eye I see Georgia digging at the dirt with her hoof. Common sense seems to escape me in that second as I’m stuck watching Betty’s burial. Georgia runs at me and I barely have enough time to back up a few steps to avoid being hit. Kade steps between the two of us and shouts at Georgia who doddles away at his request.

  “Be careful. These cows can be dangerous,” he scolds me and tosses his shovel over the gate. His hair is ruffled and his face smudged with dirt. He’s covered head to toe in dirt understandably.

  “Yeah, I got that. I was raised on a farm. I’m just off today, I guess.” I recall the dozens of cows Dad used to send to get butchered. We had some drown in slough in the pasture, we had calves born stillborn, we had a couple go missing to be found a day or so later after being hit by a car. Why is this one cow causing me such turmoil?

  We walk into the house in silence. He’s clearly back to brooding. While he showers and cleans up, I put in a load of laundry. I’m startled when my phone rings. Expecting it to be my aunt Betty I’m surprised whe
n an unknown number comes up. A Montana number. My heart races. Could this be Daniel?

  I answer it. “Hello?”

  “May? Oh my god. Thank god. Where are you? I was told that you were dead, killed by vampires because of some genetic blood mutation or something.” It’s Daniel sounding beyond panicked.

  “What? Who told you that?” I demand.

  “Well it was all over the news that you were found dead, and when I went and demanded an investigation from the council, they told me this crazy story about our family having some weird mutation,” he rattles off.

  “Calm down. I’m okay. I’m in hiding from everything. You can’t tell anyone that I’m alive or I won’t be alive for long. I’m serious. No one can know, not Bryxx, demons, especially vampires because apparently I’m some sort of irresistible crack to them.”

  He sighs deeply on the other end. “I won’t. You gave me a heart attack though. I’m just happy you’re okay. Are you safe? Who are you with? The council said you had demons protecting you because of some deal Dad made or something.”

  This is news to me. “I’m in Canada, actually. I probably shouldn’t tell you where or my body guard might kill me. It has to stay a secret.”

  “Who is with you? May, demons aren’t safe, they probably have some ulterior motive to hand you in or get you killed.” Daniel is about to combust, I can hear the rage and panic in his voice.

  I shake my head although he can’t see me. “I’m with Kade. I’m okay. I trust him.”

  After a long moment of silence Daniel squeaks, “What?”.